Before I just start to rant, I want to remind everybody of the "rules" for Sunday Morning Reflections. There aren't any and I almost ALWAYS go off track. Well, this morning is no exception.

I subscribe to a weekly magazine called The Week and I love it. There's a regular feature called, "Only in America". This week's news item was about Atlanta school officials who made a five year old sign a "safety contract" pledging not to harm herself or others after she pointed a crayon at another kid and said, "pew, pew". The child later asked her mother, "What is suicide, Mommy?" and obviously the mother was furious.

Like many of you, I spend a great deal of time these days walking around shaking my head and simply not understanding when or how we got so off track.

A month or so ago I read about a high school kid getting sent home because somebody sneezed and she said, "Bless you!" She was sent to the principal's office for bringing religion into the class room.

The list goes on and on and it's absurd...I guess it's time to simply sound like the old fart I am.

I want the Pledge of Allegiance back in the schools.

I want a teacher to be allowed to break up a fight on the playground without worrying about being sued.

I want a parent to be able to give their kid a swat on the butt when the kid deserves it without worrying about Children and Family Services knocking on the door.

I want the VA to stop screwing around with health care for our veterans, who, regardless of what you believe in about war, have given up a lot for all of us.

I want teachers and law enforcement to make the salaries they deserve.

I want members of Congress to actually have to live with the same benefits all the rest of us have, along with the same requirements for doing their job. All of us would expect to be fired if we behaved the way most of Congress does!

Last on the list for this morning...I'm sick of the drug companies, health care providers and the politics involved that cost us more and only serve to add to corporate profitability!

Okay, there it is and I feel better...I love our country and I definitely classify myself as a patriotic American, but I don't understand how so many people got off track.

PS And if you're offended by my post this morning...be thankful I didn't go into my thoughts on capital punishment, but I'll give you a hint...I don't really care if they screwed up somebody's lethal injection. Execution isn't supposed to be a trip to the dentist.

Hey Old Roomy!! Sorry I can only give you a C+ for this rant. To reach a true OLD FART rant status you will need a few carefully chosen cuss words and at least one point that makes no sense at all.
Meant to comment the other day about your piece about the WWII reunion. I so envy your relationship with your dad. I never knew mine as an adult, he died when I was 20. I could just picture us standing there beside you and Ralph. Brought a tear to my eye. Loved the whole piece. Thanks!!
Feel fre to rant on!
Up against the wall Mother Miami !!

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Authors

Skip Cohen is President of SCU, founder of Marketing Essentials International and past president of Rangefinder Publishing and WPPI. He's been an active participant in the photographic industry since joining Hasselblad USA in 1987 as president. He has co-authored six books on photography and actively supports dozens of projects each year involving photographic education.

Scott Bourne

Scott Bourne was the first Dean of Marketing at SCU. He helped to establish this blog as a resource for aspiring and working professional photographers. He's an educator, artist, author and from time to time you'll see his name on guest posts that are always relevant to photography and marketing!